**** FOUR STARS. It's hard not to be drawn in by Regen's emotional ballad "Better Days" and the bittersweet "Photographs of You." Recommended.
ALL MUSIC GUIDE
Tracks range from the Randy Newmanesque "It's Alright By Me", which sounds like a strong contender for the next Pixar movie soundtrack, to a brace of tunes featuring guitarist Andy Summers - the hypnotic "Close To Me" and "Finding My Way Back to Me" (whose opening riff sounds like a very close relation of "Don't Stand So Close To Me"). Regen displays an impressively wide pianistic touch, hitting the piano so hard in the title track you can almost feel the vibration of the strings, caressing the notes in the touching ballad "Better Days".
JAZZWISE
It’s Regen’s own writing and crooning that carry the day here: “Better Days,” “Disappear” and the title tune make the most impact with no “name” assistance whatsoever. Regen’s proven himself a master of jazz and pop...
HIGH BIAS
This pianist's no amateur: His CD ....Let It Go'' (Sandfish) features Andy Summers of the Police and Martha Wainwright. There are hints of Bruce Hornsby and Van Morrison about it and the songwriting lifts it a notch.
BLOOMBERG.COM
Despite the star potential lending a helping hand, it is still the magnificent verses and glorious choruses which put their stamp on this record – as well as Regen’s voice, which unobtrusively claims center stage shining like silken sandpaper. In a way, therefore, “Let it Go” is another manifestation of the mystery and magic of music: You can tour the planet, sell thousands of records and grace the covers of glossy magazines, but no marketing budget in the world could make songs about the torture of wanting, the cruelty of love and the solitude of a room after she’s left sound this credible.
TOKAFI.COM
Radio-friendly pop tunes, featuring rich lyrics, cool and honest vocals, and grooving piano and organ playing...Like (Bruce) Hornsby, Regen has facility, hipness, and the confidence to pull it off.
KEYBOARD MAGAZINE
Regen comes out swinging with the album's title track and continues to impress with songs that include "Close to Me" and "Finding My Way Back to Me."
CHARLESTON POST & COURIER
Let It Go is a wonderful album - it's full of depth, emotion and feeling from the beginning to the end. I've found it to be a very relatable album, with songs such as Photographs of You and I Come Undone.
CARRY YOU AWAY
Perfectly poised contemporary pop...Let It Go is another significant milestone in Regen’s burgeoning career, and represents a consolidation of his composing aptitude and an inspired indicator of his progressive pianistic skills.
MALAYSIAN STAR
Regen skillfully proves that he’s a force to be reckoned with. Sentimental ballads such as “Better Days” and “Photographs of You” are certain to pop on a soundtrack or a TV show in the near future and lead single “Let it Go,” certainly has a rollicking movement to it that would make Michael McDonald smile.
RESIDENT MEDIA PUNDIT
Sometimes an album just hits the mark. Let it Go is one of those records. There is something to it that just feels like home. Jon Regen has taken on the singer/songwriter genre from a point of view not often seen. The New Jersey native has a Jazz pedigree but the heart of a pop songwriter with the ability to make words and music move your heart through the arc of a relationship’s highs and lows.
ICKMUSIC
A little Dave Matthews vocal warble and a lot of the serious side of Ben Folds saturates the record... His style–and musical complexity–was influenced by his time with jazz players Jimmy Scott and Kenny Barron, and the pristine sound of the piano on the record can be attributed to Steinway giving him the keys to its storied warehouse, letting him record with whatever grand he pleased. No question, Let it Go isn’t kids’ stuff, it’s for grownups. If you dig nuanced and introspective music–and you also appreciate excellent piano work, check out Jon Regen. He’s your guy.
POPDOSE.COM
Let It Go has high folkpop credibility, with production work from the same guys who work with Teddy Thompson and Ryan Adams, and support from Martha Wainwright on vocals and the distinctive guitarwork of Andy Summers of The Police, but Regen's original songwriting and stellar performance are the real find here.
COVER LAY DOWN
With the release of his new album Let It Go, singer, songwriter and pianist Jon Regen demonstrates why he has been called the ‘Miracle Child From New York.’ His music is simply unforgettable.
Featuring Andy Summers of The Police, Martha Wainwright, and other renowned guests, Let It Go is a breakout masterpiece of jazz-influenced pop that effortlessly combines Regen’s pianistic prowess with his unmistakable voice as a singer and songwriter.
“I’ve been searching for a way to tell my own story, both as a singer/songwriter and as a piano player,” Regen says from his home in New York City. “I’ve made jazz records, and pop records, but never one that managed to meld the two into something that represents both sides of my split personality. On this one, everything just fell into place.”
Produced by multi-instrumentalist Brad Albetta (Martha Wainwright, Teddy Thompson),
and mixed by legendary British producer John Porter (Ryan Adams, BB King, The Smiths), Let It Go feels both resoundingly fresh and reassuringly familiar. The album features 12 newly-penned Regen originals, and guest appearances by some of today’s most innovative artists.
“I wanted each song to tell its own story,” Regen says. ‘Close To Me’ is about a girl that
took my breath away – I was literally in physical pain over the break-up. Andy (Summers) came-in, and without a word, he played those haunting guitar lines that totally capture the longing in the song. Music is like that – it cuts to the chase.”
On ‘I Come Undone,’ singer Martha Wainwright guests. “I wrote that song after losing a friend of mine,” Regen says. “Martha’s voice really brings-out the heartbreak – the emptiness that lingers. She is one in a million.”
Other album cameos include cellist Julia Kent (Norah Jones, Antony & The Johnsons), drummer Matt Johnson (Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright), guitarist Jimmy Vivino (Late Night with Conan O’Brien), and singer Kami Thompson, (daughter of famed songsmiths Richard and Linda Thompson, and sister of musician Teddy).
Almost as surprising as the roster of A-list guest artists, is the fact that Regen recorded Let It Go live in the studio, singing and playing piano in real-time. With the exception of backing vocals and a few instrumental overdubs, everything on the record was recorded in one pass.
“We cut the record live,’ Regen says. “I came-up playing jazz, where you didn’t have the time or the luxury to redo a vocal or bring in a different band. And so that mantra of getting it right the first time has always stuck with me.”
“The other thing is,” Regen continues, “I was a piano player first, so it’s almost physically impossible for me to sing without sitting at the piano – my body just won’t do
it! So it’s really out of necessity that I record everything live – I guess I’m old-school in that regard.”
Regen will tour in-support of Let It Go throughout 2008, with solo and band dates across the US, Europe, and Asia.
BIOGRAPHY
Jon Regen was raised in Maplewood, New Jersey. Originally self-taught on his family’s aging grand piano at the age of five, Regen would lead his first professional group while still in his early teens.
He studied piano and music theory at The Eastman School of Music, and The University of Miami, eventually relocating back to his home state of New Jersey to apprentice world-renowned pianist Kenny Barron, at the Mason Gross School of The Arts at Rutgers University. Regen would graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree, and quickly move to New York City, where his strong melodic and rhythmic approach to the piano would not go unnoticed.
Regen was named Runner-Up in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, and was also chosen as one of only 2,000 pianists worldwide to hold the title of Steinway Artist. Bassist Kyle Eastwood asked Regen to anchor his touring band, where Regen remained until 2001, leaving to accompany jazz icon Jimmy Scott. Regen spent nearly three years alongside Scott, touring, recording, and performing across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The New York Sun would write of Regen’s work with Scott, ‘Although the British press has described Mr. (Jamie) Cullum as "Sinatra in sneakers," he is a long way from having a Sinatra or Nat Cole-level vocal instrument. Likewise, he has less technique as a pianist than, say, Jimmy Scott's prodigious accompanist, Jon Regen.’
Jon Regen Trio – Live at The Blue Note, Regen’s debut CD, was released on Half-Note Records to critical acclaim in 2000. JazzTimes called him ‘a gifted pianist-composer whose career merits tracking.’ His follow-up recording, Tel Aviv was greeted with the same industry-wide praise upon its release in 2001. High Bias proclaimed; ‘A protégé of jazz great Kenny Barron, Jon Regen is a pianist of great lyrical gifts, using his masterful technique to caress a melody like a lover strokes the object of his desire. The three-part 'Tel Aviv Suite' is a marvel of collective improvisation and jazz piano melodicism.’
In 2004, Regen released Almost Home, a seven-song EP of all-original material that showcased his previously hidden talents as a singer and songwriter. Critics around the globe heralded the new music with unanimous praise; All Music Guide awarded it Four Stars, and CD Baby proclaimed ‘Regen has woven a tapestry of adult contemporary pop and jazz that reflects on the integration of intelligent songwriting with the elemental and unbridled force of the human spirit.’ The Danube Courier dubbed Regen ‘the Miracle Child from New York, ’ and High Bias called the EP a collection of ‘solid tunes with instantly-appealing melodies and soulful vocals.’
Regen’s new album Let It Go was released in 2008.
In addition to his performing and recording work, Regen is an accomplished freelance journalist. His work can currently be seen in the pages of KEYBOARD Magazine, available in print and online at:
Hi Jon, thanks for the add. Hope to see you play next time your in Germany. Heard the live version of "Let It Go", just love it. Greetings from Germany Susan x
wish i could come to nj tomorrow night :( your words make so much sense in this crazy world, even when nothing else does! have a great show talk soon, soph
I am listening more carefully to lyrics now and I just noticed how deep they are. You paint emotions in detail (familiar emotions I resemble and bet a lot of people does so) , this is very inspiring! Thanks :)
